Category Archives: Sparking – Europe

Domaine Richou – Loire Valley crement

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We had our first Loire Valley wine tasting trip in 2015 and this was one of the last vineyards to visit yet one of the best. Great tour and explanation of the various parcels of land and the different soils in each, the difference in the range of wines was astonishing.

This is their crement, sparkling wine and is one of the nearest to champagne crements I’ve tried. A dry sparkling with aromas of toast and yeast with light citrus notes. The flavours are very much towards that typical toasted bread under tone and dry, high acidity after taste you get with champagne yet stops just short of being to overpowering. £12 a bottle makes this a wonderful sparkling.

Domain Richou - Loire Valley crement

Domaine Richou – Loire Valley crement

Juve & Camps Blanc de Noirs 2012 Cava from Spain

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This is a seriously grown up Cava. Made with Pinot Noir grapes and aged on its lees for over 2 years you get elegant small bubbles with aromas of citrus and honeysuckle and hints of yeasty notes. The flavours are subtle and fruit driven with citrus and a creaminess that makes this a refreshing alternative to other Cava’s out there.

The only issue I have is the price, at £25 a bottle its worth it but I can see people just look at the “Cava” part and pass it by, shame for them but good news for those that are willing to try it.

Juve y Camps Blanc de Noirs 2012 Cava from Spain

Juve & Camps Blanc de Noirs 2012 Cava from Spain

Pere Ventura 2012 Cava

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Made with the Xarel·lo and Chardonnay grapes this is a top end Cava. There are aromas of fennel and floral notes and flavours of almonds and butterscotch. There is a lovely creamy texture to the wine that makes it very easy to knock back on its own. Pair it with sea food or as we did with salad and citrus based salad dressing.

My only gripe about the wine is in the price. At £25 plus a bottle it’s in the champagne and top English sparkling wine price bracket. The bottle is gorgeous which helps to market it but with Cava on the bottle I think people will bypass it. It’s a shame because blind tasted I think people will pick it.

Pere Ventura 2012 Cava

Pere Ventura 2012 Cava

Vouvray Demi Sec from the Loire Valley in France

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This is a sparkling Chenin Blanc from Vouvray. It’s a Demi Sec sparkling with flavours of yellow apple, blossom, pear and a little honey and citrus. The aromas are lacking but it’s not a big issue, the flavours are integrated and complement the strawberries and cream and scones we had.

At about £10 a bottle it’s pretty good.

Vouvray Demi Sec from the Loire

Vouvray Demi Sec from the Loire

Bouvet Ladubay Brut

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We recently went on a Wine GB trip to the Loire Valley and visited Bouvet Ladubay in Saumur. It’s big operation making 6 million bottles of wine per year.

This is their standard sparkling wine, very dry with flavours of citrus and green apple. The acidity is high and would naturally pair with sea food or a second glass. This is the standard I measure other sparkling wine against. It’s not the very best but very good. Majestic Wines sell this for about £10 a bottle, good value.

Bouvet Ladubay Brut from Saumur in the Loire Valley, France

Bouvet Ladubay Brut from Saumur in the Loire Valley, France

Wine GB wine tour – Loire Valley 2019 – Day 5 – Saumur artesian wine making (the shed guy)

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4 years ago we came across a little producer south of Saumur. Antoine Butet from Domaine De La Bruyere. Last time we met his father, this time we met the son, Antoine who is the. winemaker  The wines were crisp, clear with lovely taste of green fruit and pear flavours for the whites and subtle red fruit tastes, low tannins and easy drinking for the reds. We call him the shed guy because he literally works out of a shed, what looks like an old converted cow shed.

This may not be gold medal winning decanter wine, but it’s fantastic value at Eur4 or Eur5 a bottle and it will not embarrass you if you serve to friends, exactly what wine should be. Ps he also does 10 litre wine in a bag.

The shed guy

The shed guy

Domaine De la Bruyere

Domaine De la Bruyere

Wine GB wine tour – Loire Valley 2019 – Day 4 – just wine

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Day 4, after all the tasting so far, today would at prove the end turn out to be the most weird.

Our first stop was in Vouvray at Bernard Fouquet. They only do Chenin Blanc wines but have various styles. The first wine was the Cuvee Silex, a dry but tasting off dry, rounded, soft feeling wine with aromas of stone fruit, melon with cane through on the taste. Beautifully east to drink.

Bernard Fouquet caves

Bernard Fouquet caves

The second wine was the the Le Petit Clos 2017, dryer and with green notes of grass and apple but with subtle aromas of lemon, peach and melon. We tried the 2016 version which has an oakey note on the nose and the same green flavours.
Le Marigny (dry) was next. Dryer still and Oak aromas and flavours of lemon and green apple.
Le Marigny (sweet) has 30g of residual sugar. Honey, citrus aromas and flavours.
Le Plan De Jean 2018 is a late harvest wine and has 70g of residual sugar. Able to be stored for 20 years or more. Soft,  smooth with honey and peach aromas and flavours and slight citrus notes in the background. The 2015 version was aged in barrels and has aromas of oak and a faint hint of kerosene but not in the taste.
Cuvee Alexandre is a desert wine with aging ability of 50 year’s, why? Amazing aromas of honey, dried apricots. Very sweet with honey, orange marmalade and raisin flavours, wonderful, superb it makes life worth living.
The last tasting was the sparkling wine Brut, to help clean the palette. Not sure if it would be better to start with this but there are aromas and flavours of citrus, clean but possibly influencer by the sweet wine still.
The last sparkling was the Cuvee Zero. Aromas of warm bread and citrus flavours, very nice, I liked the clearness on the palette.
Bernard Fouquet, Vouvray, Loire Valley

Bernard Fouquet, Vouvray, Loire Valley

Francois et Julien Pinon in Vouvray was the next stop. We tasted in a troglodyte cave house, cool and inviting.

Francois Pinons storage

Francois Pinons storage

Francois Pinons tasting room

Francois Pinons tasting room

The Brut had aromas of lemon with fresh mineral notes. The flavours were subtle, more citrus and green, very dry with high acidity.
The Zero Brut had more yeasty notes with a little hint of petroleum. There are flavours of citrus and green apple.
The Sec 2018 still white is made of Chenin Blanc. It has aromas of lemon and hints of grapefruit. There are flavours of citrus but also a creamy texture.
The next white was from grapes grown on limestone rather than clay. This has more floral notes and a slightly rounded although with good acidity. Both are drink all day wines and good value at under Eur14 a bottle.
The next stop was the weirdest, strangest and some would say the most bonkers.
Making wine in clay and concrete pots 800m inside a cave.
David Sebastien, Loire Valley wine making in a cave

David Sebastien, Loire Valley wine making in a cave

All the wines that he made were competent, the reds had an earthy smell but were full-bodied Cab Franc and had very subtle differences but with good red fruit and black fruit flavours coming through.

The idea is that the wine will take on the flavours of the pot and the pot will breakdown the tanning and structures of wine to give it a finer flavour. He toasts the inside of the pots to give different flavours just as you would a barrel. He even hangs some from the caves ceiling.

The hanging wine vat

The hanging wine vat

Humidity is at 85% and the temperature is approximately 12 degrees in the caves, theres masses of mould growing on the walls on tanks barrels, spooky place.

Mould growing on the barrels

Mould growing on the barrels

The guy can make wine but I’m not entirely convinced that this is the way forward.

Wine GB wine tour – Loire Valley 2019 – Day 3 wine and mushrooms

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Langlois Chateau, owned by Bollinger since1973 and it makes 1.2 to 1.5 million bottles a year. We did the tour of the caves and winery and then tasted some of the wines.
24 pallet gyro pallet for riddling the sparkling wine

24 pallet gyro pallet for riddling the sparkling wine

Wine having a little rest

Wine having a little rest

L’Extra par Langlois, blanc de blanc. Fresh with fruit drive flavours and aroma’s. The Langlois Brut. 60% Chardonnay, 20% Chenin and 20% Cab Franc is drier, less fruit driven but has higher acidity coming through on the tasting. The Brut is a more traditional sparkling wine.
The 2013 reserve millesime Brut is drier with greener notes and is aged another year (3 years), There is more going on but not sure it’s worth the extra Eur5 a bottle.
The quadrille Extra Brut is yeasty, very dry and more champagne and at Eur20 a bottle reasonable if you like champagne.
The Langlois Brut Rose is light, with subtle flavours of red fruit and good acidity, not to high. At Eur11 a bottle it’s good value.
The Saumur blanc is 100% Chenin and is light, clean, fresh flavours. It’s a soft wine perfect for summer, sitting in the garden and at Eur11 a bottle ok value given you’ll drink a bottle at a time.
Quadrille and Saumur white

Quadrille and Saumur white

The other whites I tried crept up the flavours ranking with oakey notes but with the need of food to go with them and priced higher.
The red Saumur Champigny is Cab Franc, served slightly chilled there are lovely red fruit flavours and very smooth. At under Eur10 a bottle good value.
The mushroom museum was next.
The mushroom museum is located in caves and this is where the mushrooms are grown.
Mushrooms growing in the caves

Mushrooms growing in the caves

Mushrooms growing in the caves 2

Mushrooms growing in the caves 2

The lunch at the museum was stuff mushrooms, what else.
Charles Joguet, in the Chinon area was the next stop.
They only grow Cab Franc but uses the different parcels of land with different sold and aspects to create wines that are simpler, red fruit driven flavour based to one’s which are more complex with black fruit and more tannins. These are not cheap wines but they are excellent. The La Cure 2015 is silky smooth, with lots of red and black fruits and a refined texture. At Eur21 a bottle its worth it.
Charles Joguet Cab Franc

Charles Joguet Cab Franc

Wine GB wine tour – Loire Valley 2019 – Day 2 – Research Station and Tasting

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Day 2 of the trip took us to the Loire vine research station – lycee Edgard Pisano et C.F.A.A 49.

Loire vine research station - lycee Edgard Pisano et C.F.A.A 49

Loire vine research station – lycee Edgard Pisano et C.F.A.A 49

The reseach station is one of many in France. Part finder by the state and part by industry, they are looking at a number of vine growing issues.
How reduce the inputs to make vine growing more efficient.
How to to control pests and disease’s
Come up with new varieties of vines.
The picture below is where the rootstock was grafted onto experimental variety that did not work, they then grafted a second varietal onto the rootstock as that was already established.
Loire root stock

Loire root stock

When it comes to disease resistant they have found the 4 genes that relate to issues with mildrew and have bred a variety that is resistant. They are now trying to cross this with a varietal that actually has taste, as the original is very neutral. They tried GM vines but they found that these were sabotaged, people did not like them being grown and tried out.

One of the main areas they are looking at is how to reduce the inputs to make vine growing more efficient. This includes different mulching and if you should replace individual vines in rows that have died, probably not.

Loire research replacing vines

Loire research replacing vines

The bags are where they have hand pollinated disease resistant and taste verietals. These are white varietal ones because the red varietal are done in Bordeaux.
Loire hand pollination

Loire research replacing vines

Plastic around the base of the vine is where they have grafted a new cane (branch) onto the European top to create a new cane where one has died, the plastic is there to protect the new cane.
Loire new cane replacement

Loire new cane replacement

The white strips on the vines are anti hale netting, they’ve not had hale yet.
Loire anti hale netting

Loire anti hale netting

Also looking at trying to set up eco system that will help look after the vines from powdery mildew by planting vegetation that has have the mildrew and the predators of powdery mildew they hope these established predators will help the vine.
Their sparkling wine is made from Chenin Blanc, Chardonnay and Cab Franc. It is made from grapes grown at the research station at a local co operative. There are aroma’s and flavours of peach, green apple, lemon and with high acidity.
Next on day 2 was tasting and lunch at
Chateau De Fesles.
Chateau De Fesles, Loire Valley

Chateau De Fesles, Loire Valley

whites included – Chenin Sec 2016. Aromas of melon and lemon with freshness and mineral notes. Light creaminess to the taste with slight vanilla coming through. The fresh acidity helps mask the 13.5% alcohol. Easy drinking summer wine.
The 2012 version has honey notes and a smoky Oak undertone. The acidity is there there but it’s masked by the honey and not to my taste.
Rose Anjou 2018. Aromas of strawberry raspberry, red fruit and bubblegum. The only downside is this is a sweeter wine and that really comes through. Love the smell, just  couldn’t drink lots of this.
There were several red wines, Cab Franc’s were good to excellent, usual red fruit and black cherry aromas and flavours. Well worth the visit. Wines ranged from Eur6-Eur30 a bottle. Decent value.
The next tasting was at Domaine Filliatreau. The tasting rooms are in the caves on a side of a hill.
Domaine Filliatreau, Loire Valley

Domaine Filliatreau, Loire Valley

The white wine was full of flavour, with richness and and urge to have food with them. The Cab Franc red wines were excellent. Lots of red fruit, black cherry and light to medium tannins. At Eur 9-Eur25 per bottle, they are not cheap but pretty good value. We got 4 bottles to have when we get home.